Die for forging the followers of extensible railway-car platforms



(No Model.)

J. REILLEY 8: O. BERGMAN. DIE FOR FORGING THE FOLLOWERS OF EXTENSIBLE RAILWAY GAR PLATFORMS.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFIcE.

JAMES REILLEY AND CLAES BERGMAN, OF BUFFALO, NEIV YORK.

DIE FOR FORGING THE FOLLOWERS OF EXTENSIBLE RAILWAY-CAR PLATFORMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,930, dated March 19, 1889.

Application filed December 8, 1883- $erial No. 293,006. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JAMES REILLEY and CLAES BERGMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Dies for Forging the Followers of Extensible Railway- Gar Platforms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to dies for forming the followers which are employed in carbumpers or movable platform-extensions of the character described and shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 333,4t47, granted to N. P. Oowell December 29, 1885.

These followers have heretofore been constructed of cast-iron; but this metal does not possess sufficient strength, and is liable to break when the follower receives severe shocks.

The object of our invention is to render the follower stronger, so as to avoid, as far as practicable, breakage thereof; and it consists to that end in a pair of dies, whereby these followers may be constructed of wrought-iron in an inexpensive and rapid manner.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of our improved dies. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the dies in line w :11, Fig. 1. Fig. et is a top plan view of the lower die. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the upper die. Fig. 0 is a central vertical section of the dies. Fig. 7 represents the blank from which the follower is formed. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the follower partially finisl1ed,one half of the same being shown in section and the other half in elevation. Fig. 9 is a verti cal section of the finished follower. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of one of the ears forming part of the follower. Figfll is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the end portion of a car, showing the arrangement of the follower and connecting parts. Fig. 12 is a horizontal section of the follower and connecting parts on an enlarged scale.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

Referring to Figs. 11 and 12, A represents the platform of a car; A, the supplementary movable platform or bumper; A the horizontal follower, connected with said movable platform by a rod, a; a, the spring bearing against the follower; and b, the toggle-bars,

connected with the follower and operated by a shoulder, I), on the draw-bar B, in a wellknown manner.

The follower A consists of a rectangular block or plate provided on its front side with a perforated boss or cylindrical projection, c,

against which the shoulder formed at the contracted end portion of the rod abears, lateral tongues c, which slide in horizontal grooves or Ways arranged underneath the platform,

so as to guide the follower in its movements,

and parallel cars 0 projecting from the rear side of the follower, to which the ends of the toggle-bars b are pivoted by pins 0 the follower being provided on the inner sides of said ears with grooves or depressions c, in

which the ends of the toggle-bars fit, as represented in Fig. 12, so as to relieve the pins 0 from strain.

D represents the lower die, which is secured to the anvil of a power-hammer, and is provided with a central flat face, (I, in which is arranged a circular opening or shaping-cavity, (1, corresponding to and adapted to form the boss 0 of the follower A E is the upper die or punch, which is secured to the head of the power-hammer. The central portion of this die is recessed transversely to a depth about equal to the thickness of the follower when finished, as shown at e, so as to permit the projecting fiat faces of the die to nearly touch the face of the lower die when the follower is arranged between the dies. In the recessed portion 6 are formed two parallel semicircular shaping-cavities, f

j, which are designed to form the parallel ears 0 die above the circular shaping-cavity d, as I00 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The upper die in descending spreads and flattens the heated blank and forces a portion of the metal into the circular cavity 61' of the lower die,

forming the boss 0, and intothe semicircular cavities ff of the upper die, forming the ears 0 While the projections g g form the depres= sions 0 on the inner sides of said ears.

The ears 0 may be formed in one piece with the follower, if desired; but we prefer to forge separate ears to the follower, having the grain of the metal running at right angles to that of the follower. The strain to which these cars are subjected lies in the longitudinal direction of the ears, and it is therefore desirable that the grain of the metal composing the ears should be parallel with the direction of said strain. For this purpose separate earpieces, of wrought-iron, of the shape shown in Fig. 10, are driven into the follower in a cold state, while the follower is hot and soft. 11 en separate ears are forged to the follower in this manner, the blank from which the follower is struck up is made of less thickness than it is when the ears are formed with the follower, so that the cavities f will be but partially filled with metal, so as to form short lugs on the follower, as shown in Fig.8, which lugs form enlarged bases for the ears driven into the same. The latter are tapered, so as to facilitate driving the same into said lugs. After the ears have been attached to the follower in this manner the follower with the cars is reheated and again placed upon the lower die, the boss 0 thereof fitting into the cavity d and serving to retain the followerin place. The descending die striking the follower now welds the ears to the follower, and thereby firmly unites the parts. All parts of the follower are now forged, excepting the tongues c.

The lower die, D, is recessed at one of its lateral edges, as shown at h, and in this recessed portion is formed a rectangular shaping-depression, i, which corresponds in length to the body of the follower when finished. The upper die is similarly recessed, as shown at j, and is provided with a corresponding rectangular depression, j. 3' 9' represent semicircular depressions arranged on the inner sides of the rectangular depressions z'j of the dies, and which together form a circular opening or cavity, which is designed to receive the boss 0 of the follower when the latter is arranged sidewise between the dies, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. After the ears 0 have been welded the follower is removed from the cavity d and placed in the recess h with the boss projecting into the semicircular recess j when the upper die strikes the follower and forces the side portions thereof into the rectangular depressions t'j, thereby reducing in width the end portions of the follower not located in said depressions and forming the tongues c. In case the metal of the already-formed parts is spread by this second forging operation the follower is again placed between the flat face d of the lower die and the corresponding face of the upper die to restore it to its proper form. The follower is in this manner alternately placed into the two sets of shaping depressions or recesses as often as may be necessary to give it the proper finished shape. XVhen the follower leaves the second set of shaping-depressions, 1: j, the tongues 0 will be longer than is required, owing to the spreading of the metal, and it is therefore necessary to cut off the surplus metal. For this purpose the upper die is provided with two cutters, 7t 7t, and the lower die is provided below said outters with a flat anvil or face, Z, having an opening or socket, Z for receiving the boss 0 of the follower, which latter is placed upon said anvil in a position similar to that in which it is placed between the first set of shaping-depressions, before described. The cutters k are arranged at a distance apart corresponding to the length of the follower, including the tongues 0, so that when the upper die descends said cutters will cut oif a suflicient amount of the tongues c to leave the latter of the proper length. The portion of the lower die on opposite sides of the anvilface is recessed or cut away, as shown, to allow the lower ends of the cutters to descend below said anvil. The latter is provided with steel cutting-edges m, as shownin Figs. 3 and 4.

n or represent cavities formed in the upper die on the inner sides of the cutters 75, which receive the ears The cutters 7c preferably consist of rectangular bars which are removably seated in upright openings extending through the upper die, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and are held in place by the adjacent portions of the hammer-head, against which the top of the upper die rests when secured to the head, theupper ends of the cutters and openings being dovetailed or enlarged to confine the cutters in the dies.

The projections g g of the upper die preferably consist of similar rectangular bars which are arranged in upright openings in the central portion of the upper die, and are confined in place in the same manner as the cutters 7c.

The rear edges of the follower on opposite sides of the ears 0 are preferably rounded, as shown in Fig. 8, and when the follower is to be so constructed the upper die is provided on opposite sides of the ear-shaping cavities f with concave ribs 0, which form this convexity on the follower.

We claim as our invention- 1. The herein-described dies, consisting of a lower die having a fiat face, (1, provided with a circular shaping-cavity, cl, and an upper die having a recess, 6, and shaping-cavities f f, arranged in said recess, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described dies, consisting of a lower die having a fiat face, d, provided with a circular shaping-cavity, cl, and an upper die having a recess, 6, and shaping-cavities ff, arranged in said recess, and projections g g, arranged in said recess on the inner sides of the'shaping-cavities ff, substantially as set forth.

The combination, with the lower die provided with a recess, h, a rectangular shapingdepression, Z, and a semicircular cavity, 3' of the upper die provided with a similar recess, 3', shaping-depression j, and cavity 3' substantially as set forth.

4:. The combination, with the lower die provided with a flat face, 01, having a circular shaping-cavity, d, and With a recess, h, shapin g-depression i, and semicircular cavity j of the upper die provided With a recess, 6, and shaping-cavities ff, arranged above the fiat face ('7, and With a recess j, rectangular shap- 

